Remarks by the Vice President at Luncheon for Congressman Robin Hayes
Charlotte Convention Center
Charlotte, North Carolina

12:12 P.M. EDT

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Robin; and I want to
thank all of you for that warm welcome . It's great to be back in
Charlotte, and to see so many old friends here today -- and I want to
bring greetings to everybody in North Carolina from the man you helped
elect President of the United States, President George W. Bush.
(Applause.)

I'm especially pleased today to see my old friend, Jim Martin. Jim
and I served together for a number of terms in the House of
Representatives, before he became your governor, and he taught me most
of what I know about the House of Representatives -- although, I'm not
sure he'll admit that. But I really valued my time in the House. At
one point in my career, I thought that's where I was going to spend it
literally -- a member of Congress from Wyoming.

Wyoming only had one congressman. It was a small delegation --
(laughter) -- but it was quality. (Laughter.) Thanks, Jim.
(Laughter.) But I loved my time in the House, and now have the
privilege of presiding over the United States Senate as Vice
President. And I'm here today specifically because President Bush and
I both believe that it's absolutely essential that we reelect
Congressman Robin Hayes to another term in Congress come next
November. (Applause.)

Since I've returned as Vice President, I've gotten to know Robin
well and had the opportunity to work with him on a number of
occasions. And when it comes time to stand up for America and stand up
for North Carolina, nobody does a better job than Robin does.

Since being elected to Congress in '98, he's fought to protect
North Carolina's family farms, to keep the federal government's
promises to North Carolina's seniors, and improve North Carolina's
educational system by making it less bureaucratic and more responsive
to local control.

And through his service on the House Armed Services, Robin has been
a strong and effective advocate of our nation's military in a time of
national crisis. North Carolina plays an absolutely vital role in
America's defense -- and Robin never forgets about Fort Bragg or Pope
Air Force Base here in North Carolina.

Above all, Robin has been a tireless advocate for jobs in North
Carolina. Where his constituents are involved, he works very
effectively to get things done for everybody in the state.

I've been in politics long enough now, and having served as the
congressman from Wyoming, I learned the value of what I would call good
congressional horse flesh -- there are always a few members who stand
out, who have their roots firmly grounded in their districts, who have
a good, solid philosophy and a set of principles by which they live,
and who have the capacity to influence others to make crucial decisions
for the nation -- Robin is exactly that kind of member, and that's why
it's so vital to help him get reelected come November.

He represents, obviously, one of the toughest districts in North
Carolina. This is likely to be a priority race next time around, and
he will continue to be elected, I believe, because of his strong
leadership skills, his bipartisan capabilities, his capacity for
working with both sides of the aisle. And the North Carolina people
need Robin Hayes in Congress. (Applause.) And President Bush and I
need him in Congress to help us to our vital jobs at this crucial
moment. (Applause.)

It's been about three years since the President talked to me about
becoming his running mate. When he asked me to sign on, he said it
wasn't because he was worried about carrying Wyoming -- (laughter) --
in fact, he got nearly 70 percent of the vote in Wyoming. But from
time to time I point out to him that those three electoral votes came
in pretty handy. (Laughter.)

I think a lot of the pundits expected, since we won a close
election -- one of the closest in history -- that our administration
might trim its sails and move forward with a timid agenda. But from
the very beginning, the President made it clear that he'd gone to
Washington to get something done and that we were going to do
absolutely everything we could to move ahead on our priorities.

That very first year, we achieved two of our major objectives: tax
relief and education reform. On the tax front, we lowered tax rates,
reduced the marriage penalty, and eliminated the death tax.
(Applause.)

The President also moved aggressively on a bipartisan basis to
build a coalition to reform our educational system. It was milestone
reform, ushering in an era of standards and accountability. It was, we
believe, truly a turning point that set American education on the path
towards educational excellence.

But the defining moment for the President, and for all of us, was
the sudden attack on our country on September 11th, two years ago
yesterday. That's a day none of us will ever forget. Suddenly we
understood how vulnerable we were as a nation, how it was possible for
terrorists to take advantage of our open borders and open society and
to use them against us. We saw that it was relatively easy for a small
number of terrorists to launch an attack and kill some 3,000 of our
fellow citizens in two hours in New York and Washington and
Pennsylvania -- truly a watershed event in American history.

We also began to understand, particularly from the evidence we
uncovered in caves and tunnels and training camps in Afghanistan, that
our enemies are determined to acquire weapons of mass destruction --
chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, if they can. And we have
every reason to believe that if they succeed, they will use them,
launching attacks far more deadly than anything we've ever
experienced.

To counter these threats, we've been forced to think anew about how
we defend our country, and about what constitutes a viable national
security strategy for our America. We've come to realize that if we
are to protect the American people against determined enemies, we can't
simply rely on our old Cold War strategy. The kind of strategy we used
against the Soviets during the Cold War, where we put at risk those
things they valued in order to deter them from ever launching an attack
against the United States, simply will not work where terrorists are
concerned. There is nothing the terrorists value highly enough that we
can put at risk to keep them from ever launching that attack. So no
treaty or arms control agreement or strategy of deterrence will end
this conflict. We need a new strategy -- and that's precisely what
we've developed.

We began working aggressively here at home to toughen our defenses,
created the Department of Homeland Security, the biggest reorganization
of the federal government since the Department of Defense was created
back in the 1940s.

But good defense is not enough. The problem with terrorist
organization is that, even if you build defenses that are 99 percent
successful, the 1 percent that gets through can kill you. We need a
strategy that takes us on offense, and that lets us go after those who
pose a threat to the United States and to our friends and allies -- a
strategy that allows us to destroy the terrorists before they can
launch further attacks against the United States. (Applause.) We
cannot wait to act until after we have another day like 9/11 or a day
perhaps far even worse. A good part of our new strategy is, indeed,
based upon the President's determination to change the way we think
about states that sponsor terror.

Prior to 9/11, too many nations tended to draw a distinction
between terrorist groups and the states that provided those groups with
support, with sanctuary and safe harbor. They were unwilling,
oftentimes in the past, to hold terror-sponsoring states accountable
for their actions.

After 9/11, President Bush decided that the distinction between the
terrorists and their sponsors could no longer be permitted to stand.
The Bush doctrine makes clear that those states that support
terrorists, or provide sanctuary for terrorists, are just as guilty as
the terrorists themselves. So in addition to going after the
terrorists, in addition to dismantling their financial networks and
their logistic support, we also are taking on states that sponsor
terrorism. (Applause.)

I'll never forget that Friday after the attack, when the President
went to Ground Zero in New York -- many of you may remember it. He
stood up on a pile of rubble with a bullhorn in his hand. And when the
men in the hard hats working nearby said they couldn't hear him, he
responded, "Well, I can hear you. The rest of the world hears you.
And the people who knocked these buildings down will soon hear from all
of us." He's been a man of his word.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban regime harbored al Qaeda and brutalized
an entire population. That regime is no more. In Iraq, where a brutal
dictator threatened the peace and gave support to terrorists, the
United States launched one of the most extraordinary military campaigns
in history. And that regime is no more.

Some people have questioned the strategy, suggesting somehow it's
wrong for the United States to strike "before an enemy strikes us."
But I would argue that on 9/11 we were struck. We lost more people
that day than we lost at Pearl Harbor. And I ask you, if we had been
able, through preemptive military action, to defeat the attack before
it ever occurred, would we have been justified? The answer is, you bet
we would have. And make no mistake: this President will act against
further attacks, even when it means moving aggressively to head-off
would-be attackers. (Applause.)

So the war on terror continues. It's a war being fought all over
the globe -- just look at the attacks that have occurred in the last
two years, not only in New York and Washington -- but also in Bali,
Mombassa, Riyadh, Casablanca, Jakarta, Bombay, Baghdad and Najaf. And
the war will continue, perhaps as long as we're in office, perhaps even
longer.

In this global war on terror, U.S. forces are heavily engaged where
they need to be, and especially today in Afghanistan and Iraq. We will
stay in Afghanistan and Iraq to make absolutely certain that the job is
done before we move on. We will stay until we've wrapped up all the
weapons of mass destruction and eliminated those who are enemies of the
United States.

This war is not without sacrifice. More than 400 of our troops
have already given their lives since the war on terror began on 9/11.
And there are bound to be more casualties. But remember, we lost some
3,000 Americans here at home on 9/11. We'll be much safer and much
more secure long-term if we're aggressively going after the terrorists
and after the nations and mechanisms that support them overseas than if
we lay back and wait for them to strike us again here at home.

In the battles of Iraq and Afghanistan and in other fronts in the
war on terror, we've depended on the skill and courage of our men and
women in uniform. They have faced enemies who have no regard for the
rules of warfare or morality. They have carried out urgent and
difficult missions in some of the most remote and hostile parts of the
world. And they've done all this with the bravery and honor we have
come to expect of them. As a former Secretary of Defense, I've never
been more proud of our men and women in uniform than I am today.
(Applause.)

Waging and winning the war on terror is only part of our
responsibility toward other nations. There is great work in this world
that only America can do. In the Middle East, we're encouraging free
markets, democracy, tolerance, because these are the ideas and
aspirations that overcome violence and turn societies toward the
pursuit of peace.

Under President Bush, America acts in the world according to both
our fundamental interests and our founding ideals. We believe in the
dignity of life and the right of all people to live in freedom. And
all who strive and sacrifice for the cause of freedom will have a
friend in the United States.

Here at home, we'll continue with an active and aggressive agenda.
We have made major progress on the economy. When we took office,
America was sliding into recession, too many people who wanted to work
couldn't find a job. To help create jobs and to get the economy
growing again, we have cut taxes each of the three years we've been in
office. In the bill we passed this year, not only did we cut the
income tax rates, but we also significantly cut taxes on dividends and
capital gains -- a fundamental reform of the tax system that should
encourage and stimulate long-term economic growth. We've delivered the
largest tax relief since the presidency of Ronald Reagan.

Some in Congress have suggested we need to repeal tax relief and
raise taxes on the American people. But raining taxes now, at a time
like this, will hurt the recovery and postpone the day when we generate
sufficient revenues to be able to close the deficit.

It's vital that we move forward to do everything we can, as well,
to encourage greater growth and development in the manufacturing
sector. I know you've had significant problems you've been addressing
here in North Carolina. The administration wants to work closely with
Robin Hayes and do everything we can to make certain that you've got a
strong economy here and that we take care of the needs of the people of
South Carolina who've been badly adversely affected.

We've also had action both in the House and the Senate on an energy
bill. And as in New York, Ohio and Michigan, firsthand people
experienced last week, two weeks ago, that our nation's electricity
grid badly needs to be upgraded. We're hopeful that Congress will work
swiftly to move an energy bill through the conference committee and to
produce a bill that will improve our nation's infrastructure, and
promote energy efficiency and conservation, develop cleaner
technologies and help reduce our dependence on foreign oil -- a must
for the sake of our national security.

After many years of inaction, we are making progress on bringing
Medicare into the 21st century. Last January, President Bush submitted
a framework for Medicare reform to Congress that would give seniors
access to prescription drugs and offer them better choices under
Medicare. Both Houses have taken historic action, and now Congress
must complete its work and send a bill to the President that provides
seniors with better health coverage and relief from the rising costs of
prescription drugs. We're also looking forward to working with
Congress to help small businesses better be able to afford affordable
health care for their employees.

We also need to fix the judicial confirmation process. Right now,
far too many nominations to the federal bench are being held up because
of the threat of filibuster. Our friends on the other side of the
aisle refuse to allow nominees of great merit to even be voted on, on
the Senate floor. Well-qualified nominees like Terry Boyle, here in
North Carolina, have been attacked by Senate Democrats who blocked an
up-or-down vote on the Senate floor. And just last week, another
outstanding nominee, rated well-qualified by everybody who has looked
at him, a man named Miguel Estrada, withdrew his name from
consideration after waiting two years for a vote on the Senate floor.
The treatment of this fine man has truly been disgraceful. It's time
now to restore dignity and civility to the judicial confirmation
process to make sure that every person nominated to the federal bench
gets a timely up-or-down vote.

We have achieved a great deal in these two-and-a-half years. But
there is much left to do in Washington and around the world. We need
to enact Project Bioshield to help protect the American people against
the threat of bio-terrorism. We need legal reform, because the
strength of our economy is undermined by frivolous lawsuits. And while
there are encouraging signs that the economy is picking up steam, the
President and I will not rest until everyone who wants a job can find a
job.

The campaign season will come in due course -- and when it does, we
will run hard and take nothing for granted. President Bush and I know
that the key to victory is to do the work we've been given and to do it
well. We intend to make good use of every day we have the honor of
serving the America people.

Long before I took this job, I had the good fortune to work with
other presidents whom I greatly admire. As the White House Chief of
Staff in the aftermath of Watergate, I watched Gerald Ford restore
confidence in government by the sheer decency and force of his
character. As a congressman during the decisive years of the Cold War,
I saw the conviction and moral courage of Ronald Reagan. And as a
member of the Cabinet and Secretary of Defense under former President
Bush, I saw the idea of public service in its purest form and came to
know a leader of true honor and integrity.

Along the way, I learned a few things about the presidency, and
about the kind of person it takes to do it well. It takes the finest
qualities of character: a conviction, personal integrity, good
judgment, compassion, courage in times of testing for the nation. And
that, ladies and gentlemen, is exactly the kind of man we have in the
White House today. (Applause.)

I am honored to work with George W. Bush. And he and I are both
honored by your confidence in us, by your support for strong
congressmen like Robin Hayes, and by your commitment to this great and
good country of ours, the United States of America.